In a chilling reminder of last year’s RG Kar Medical College rape-murder case, a 24-year-old first-year law student was allegedly gang-raped, beaten, and filmed inside her college premises in Kolkata’s Kasba area. The accused include an alumnus and two senior students, all of whom have now been arrested.
The prime accused, Monojit Mishra, 31, is a former student of South Calcutta Law College and served as the Organising Secretary of the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) South Kolkata district unit. Mishra, along with Zaib Ahmed (19) and Pramit Mukhopadhyay (20), third-semester students of the college, was produced in Alipore court on Friday and remanded to police custody till July 1.
‘I Touched His Feet… But He Didn’t Let Me Go’
The incident reportedly occurred on June 25, when the survivor arrived at the college around noon for examination formalities. In her detailed complaint to the police, she alleged that after being kept waiting in the students’ union room, Mishra ordered the campus gate to be locked. Later in the evening, he allegedly made unwanted advances, which she rejected.
“I denied and fought back. I cried and asked him to let me go. I told them I have a boyfriend and I love my boyfriend. But he did not listen,” the survivor told the police.
According to the complaint, Mishra threatened to harm her boyfriend and falsely implicate her parents. He then beat her with a hockey stick, leading to a panic attack. She asked for her inhaler, and after using it, was allegedly dragged to the security guard’s room, adjacent to the union office.
“I touched his feet but he didn’t let me go,” she stated, adding that while Mishra raped her, the other two stood by and watched. “She was raped by the accused till around 10 PM,” a senior police officer told PTI. “We have sealed the room, and our forensic experts are collecting evidence.”
The survivor also alleged that the entire assault was filmed, and she was later threatened with the release of the footage online if she dared to speak out. The mobile phones of all three accused have been seized and sent for forensic analysis to trace any digital dissemination of the video.
‘She Was Told to Prove Her Loyalty to TMC’
According to her written complaint, the survivor was told to “prove her loyalty to TMC” if she wanted a role in student politics. She claimed the guard was instructed to vacate the room where she was molested. “I begged the guards to help me, but they refused,” she wrote.
Page after page in her complaint details systematic humiliation, threats, and forced compliance. On one occasion, she was shown nude videos recorded during the assault and warned they would be circulated if she failed to obey further demands.
“She was continuously fighting for her life,” the police said, quoting her. “But he went on raping her.” At one point, she wrote, “I got injured.”
Another part of her statement revealed that the accused called her to discuss political matters, only to later trap her in the union room under the pretext of student elections. “They lured me in with biscuits, locked the door, and began talking about their personal power and control over the campus,” she said.
When she tried to escape, she discovered that the main gate had been locked, and the guard, apparently complicit, refused to help. “They again dragged me to the union room and later to the guard’s room,” she stated.
Prime Accused is a Practicing Lawyer
Monojit Mishra graduated in law in 2022 but allegedly retained a stronghold over the college campus. After graduation, he began practising law at the Alipore Police and Sessions Court. The college’s Vice Principal, Noyna Chatterjee, confirmed Mishra had been engaged as a temporary non-teaching staff on a 45-day renewable contract.
Mishra had a reputation for strong-arm tactics during his college years and had been linked to multiple campus assault incidents.
Political Storm Over TMC Links
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) condemned the incident, with its IT cell head Amit Malviya slamming the TMC for sheltering such individuals. “Outrageous! Manojit Mishra… has direct links with the most powerful in the TMC,” Malviya posted on X, sharing photos of Mishra with TMC leaders Abhishek Banerjee, Chandrima Bhattacharya, and Councillor Kajari Banerjee.
The TMC denied any current association with Mishra and issued a statement saying, “We stand firmly with the survivor and her family in their fight for justice. The Aparajita Bill, unanimously passed by our Assembly, mandates strict punishment, including death penalty for crimes against women. A woman’s body must not be the battleground for your politics.”
Meanwhile, BJP countered with a scathing attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her administration of normalising violence against women. “Rapes have become a daily horror. We will fight tooth and nail to end this rape culture that has flourished under TMC’s rule,” the BJP said.
Malviya added, “The horror of RG Kar hasn’t faded, and yet such heinous crimes continue. Under Mamata Banerjee’s rule, West Bengal has become a nightmare for women.”
National Women’s Commission Takes Cognisance
Taking suo motu cognisance of the incident, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has directed Kolkata Police to submit a detailed action-taken report within three days.
Members of the Congress and AIDSO staged protests outside the Kasba Police Station, demanding immediate justice, but were forcibly removed by police.
TMCP president Trinankur Bhattacharya tried to distance the organisation from the accused, stating that Mishra had never been the unit president, as the students’ body had been defunct for years.
Chilling Echo of the RG Kar Case
The Kasba gangrape comes less than a year after the rape and murder of a female postgraduate medical student at RG Kar Medical College. On August 8–9, 2024, the trainee’s body was discovered in the seminar hall. Accused Sanjoy Roy, a civic volunteer, was arrested the next day and later sentenced to life imprisonment.
